Method of mounting filaments



Sept. 28 192s. v 1,600,974

E. C. BRUECKMANN METHOD OF MOUNTING FILAMEN'IS Filed June 15, 1921 F'Kif). HQA. Fi .5.

atented Sept. 28, 1926.

FATE

OFFICE.

EARL CONRAD BRUECKMANN, OF BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WEST- TNGHOUSE LAMP COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF MOUNTING FILAMENTS.

Application filed June 15, 1921.

This invention relates to the art of manufacturing incandescent lamps and, more articularly, it relates to an improved met 0d of mounting filaments.

An object of the inventionis to improve the present methods of mounting filaments in the making of incandescent lamps.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to combine into one operation the steps previously employed of forming the end of the support into a pig tail and afterwards mounting the filament therein.

Other objects of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description;

The method most commonly employed in mounting coiled filaments is to first insert the supports in the button of the arbor after the glass has been heated to plasticity at the points where such supports are to be inserted. Thereafter the free ends of the supports are formed into loops, usually termed pig-tails. If the supports are inserted by hand, the pigtails are previously formed in them by mechanism constructed for'that purpose, but, where this operation is performed by an inserting machine, the pigtails are formed by mechanism carried by such machine. After the supports have been inserted, the operator picks up a filament by means of a pair of tweezers, places one of its ends adjacent one of the lead wires and 'clamps or welds these parts together by a suitable device. The free end of the filament is then grasped by the operator who mounts it in eachpigtail in succession by a peculiar winding movement, requiring great skill. Thereafter, the freeend of the filament is welded tothe other lead wire and the supports are arranged uniformly.

The practice heretofore has been to have I two operators perfo'rmthese various operais requir tions, one being employed to attend to the inserting and. igtail forming machine, when automatic mechanism is used, or to insort the supports by hand, while the other operator performs the welding and mountin operations as a separate step.

%t will thus be seen that, in performing the operations of mounting the filaments by the present methods, in ependent steps are emplo ed and more than one operator ed. Furthermore, expensive mecha- Serial No. 477,746.

nism is necessary, aswell as great skill required of the operator in order to ensure a given output.

It is the purpose of the present invention to employ but one operator to mount filaments and, in order to accomplish that end, t is proposed to combine the operation of lnsert ng the support and of forming the pig-tall with that of mounting the filament into the formed pigtail, as will appear more fully from the following detailed descripion.

For a better understanding of the invention', recourse may be had to the appended drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the upper end of the mount and illustrates the several steps in the proposed method as applied to a lamp of the ring-type construction; and

Figs. 2 to .8 illustrate, by side and end elevations, the successive operations, performed by the operative in carrying out the proposed method.

One way of mounting the filament which falls within the spirit of my invention and which may be briefly stated, is to weld the ends of the filament to the leads and thereafter insert the support wires in the button of the arbor, provided these wires have not been previously inserted. A mandrel may then be positioned between the supports and the filament. andthe ends of the supports flexed, twisted or wrapped around themandrel' to form enveloping loops about the filament to restrict its movement in practically every direction. The mandrel may then be removed.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the arbor 11, having a button 12, together with the interior leads 13 and 14, form part of the interior structure of the lamp which,

in the process of formation, is termed the stem. These stems are formed elsewhere in the factory and are supplied, as needed, to the. operator in erforming the steps of the proposed method? In some instances, it may be desirable to have the stems include support wires 15 without pigtails or loops therein. However, these wires may be in serted just prior to envelopment of the filament by the end of the support.

In performing the steps of the method which is considered as possessing certain advantages over prior methods, the operator welds or clamps the ends 17 and 18 of a filament 16 to the ends of the leads 13 and 14, respectively, and places. the structure thus formed in position in a device employing a clamp, it being considered unessential for the purpose of this disclosure to illustrate such structure. A fine-pointed flame 19 may then be directed against the arbor at a point where it is desired to insert a support wire, if the stems do not come provided with these wires, and the wires inserted into the arbor at the heated zone, the outer end thereof lying beneath the filament. These wires may be inserted by hand or such operation be performed by mechanism adapted for that purpose. Also, if desired, all the support wires may be inserted before any subsequent steps are performed, or one may be inserted and then the operations about to be described be performed immediately thereafter. If found desirable, but one of the ends of the filament may be clamped to a lead .and, aften-the mount-- ing operation has been performed, the free end may be secured to the other lead. The filament having been aifixed to the lead wires or wire, and a support wire or support wires inserted in the button on the arbor, the operator next proceeds to envelope the filament to restrict its movement in substantially all directions, either by bending or turning the end or ends of the support wires thereabout by means of the hand or else by a machine. The steps followed in performing this operation may be more readily understood by referring to Figures 2 to 8. The operator proceeds as in Fig. 2, in which a support wire 15 and a filament 16 may be considered as secured to a stem clamped in vertical position, by placing a mandrel 21 which may be in the form of a cylinder, a cone, etc., beneath the filament, the mandrel having a slot 22 in its upper face which is positioned in alignment with the filament. The slot is sufficiently deep to snugly envelope or embrace the filament when the latter rests therein. A shank 28 may be secured to the mandrel by means of which the mandrel may be conveniently operated either by hand or by an automatic mechanism. The mandrel may next be moved in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, to engage the filament in the slot 22, the movement being continued until the filament is raised such distance above the support wires 15 that the mandrel may be easily positioned between the support wire and the filament. This latter operation is performed by sliding or moving the mandrel in the direction of the arrow in Fi 4. It will thus be seen that, by placing t e mandrel between the support wires and the filament and enveloping the filament by the mandrel by inserting it in a groove therein, the filament is completely protected from having its structure disturbed or distorted by contact of the support wire therewith during the process of bending the support wires thereabout to restrict the movement of the filament.

It may be found convenient to protect the filament at the time the support wires are inserted in the arbor and to accomplish this end, the mandrel may engage the filament prior to the insertion of the wires in the arbor, and may remain in such position until all of the wires have been inserted. If greater accuracy is necessary in bringing the filament to proper position on the support wire in order to effect the placing of the mandrel thereabout with greater facility, the operator may index or hold the filament in proper position along the support wire at the time the mandrel engages the filament by means of an additional guide or otherwise.

The loop or pigtail 2 1 is next formed in the support wire by engaging the wire either by the fingers or by any conveniently operated device or mechanism, and moving the end of the wire about the mandrel until the end lies either directly beneath the mandrel or in such position that the loop made is completely closed. The direction of winding the loop about the wire is indicated by arrow in Fig. 6 and its final form is well shown in that view and is also indicated in Fig. 5. In order to effect a complete envelopment of the support wire, it is obvious that the end of the wire must cross the body of the wire as shown at 25 in Fig. 6 and lie next to it as illustrated in Fig. 5 at 26. The size or diameter, as well as the shape of=-the loop, is governed, to a great extent, by the kind of mandrel used. It may be desirable to have the diameter of the mandrel approximate very closely the diameter of the filament, so that the loop formed may snugly embrace the filament and preventany great movement therein. However, in the drawings, the loop or pigtail is shown as larger than in ordinary practice in order to more clearly illustrate the operations and, for convenience of illustration, a closed loop has been employed. However, any form of support which tends to hold the filament in position may be formed about the mandrel.

After the formation of the loop, the next step is to remove the'mandrel from its position between the su port and the filament and this is accomp ished by moving it to one side in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 7 and then downwardly, as indicated by arrow in Fig. 8. The removal of the mandrel may bedfacilitated, if desired, by tapering its en The foregoing operations may then be repeated with each of the support wires, or

mechanisms employed which may be used to form all of the support wires substantially simultaneously about the filament.

It will thus be seen that, by proceeding as above indicated, the mounting of the filament is readily accomplished simultaneously with the formation of the loop or pigtail in and the support wires, such movements aremerely relative and the desired objects which are accomplished by thus moving these members may just as readily be obtained by moving the filament and the support wires, either together or independently of each other.

The method indicated in the foregoing description and the devices employed in performing such method are illustrative only, it being understood that any other method or mechanism which accomplishes the desired results may be considered as falling within the purview of the invention as defined by the following claims.

, What is claimed is:

1. The method of mounting a filament which comprises-securing a filament to lead wires, temporarily positioning the filament adjacent to support wires and subsequently bending the support wires about the filament.

2. The method of mounting filaments consisting of joining a filament to leads, protecting the filament by artially at least, surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, inserting supports in the arbor and thereafter bending the supports about the mandrel and removing the mandrel.

3. The method of mounting coiled filaments consisting of joining a filament to leads, "protecting the filament by partially, at least, surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, inserting supports in the arbor and thereafter engaging the supports with the filaments by flexing the supports around said protector and removing the mandrel.

4. The method of mounting filaments consisting of joining a filament to the leads, protecting the filament by partially, at least,

surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, inserting supports in the arbor and thereafter engaging the supports with the filaments by forming a pigtail in each of said supports around the protector and the filament and removing the protector.

5. The method of mounting filaments consisting of joining a filament to the leads, protecting the filament by partially, at least surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, inserting supports in the arbor, engaging the supports with the protector to restrict the movement of the filament and furnish a support for the same and there after removing'said protector from engage ment with the filament.

6. The method of mounting filaments consisting of joining a filament to the leads,

protecting the filament by partially, at least,

surrounding the same with a mandrel. or protector, inserting supports in the arbor, engaging the supports with the filament to restrict the movement of the mandrel to provide a. loop and furnish a support for the filament and removing the mandrel.

7. The method of mounting filaments consisting of joining a filament to the leads, protecting the filament by partially, at least, surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, inserting supports in the arbor, engaging the supports with the filament to restrict the movement of the filament and furnish a support for the same by forming a pigtail in each support around the protector and the filament and removing the mandrel.

8. The method of mounting coiled filaments consisting of welding the ends of a filament to the leads, protecting portions of the filament against d stortion by partially, at least, surrounding the same with a mandrel or protector, heating the button on the arbor, inserting support wires in the heated button beneath the filament and the protector, forming a pigtail in the end of each of the supports by flexing the ends of the supports around the protector and the filament and, thereafter removing the protector from the filament.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 14th day of June 1921.

EARL CONRAD BRUECKMANN. 

